Man to Man
by stardust2002
Summary: Lee and Anders have a little talk regarding all things 'Kara'. This was originally a oneshot piece, but it has since spawned ideas for several more, so this will be the first of a few. It's set 3 months after 'Home part 2' and one month after Anders and


Man to Man

Lee and Anders have a little talk regarding all things 'Kara'.

Set 3 months after 'Home part 2' and one month after Anders and his ragtag team of survivors have been brought to Galactica by a rescue team.

ZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Lee grunted as he hefted the dumbbell up one last time in his final set. He let out a long breath as he lowered it back down to the ground, and wiped the sweat off his brow.

"Can we talk?" A voice from the doorway caught him off guard. Anders stood there, leaning against the hatch as though he'd been there some time.

Lee sighed. Talking with Anders was just about the last thing he wanted to do, especially since he and Kara had already fought earlier. He'd come down here to the gym to blow off some steam and forget about their quarrel before his next CAP shift began in a few hours. The two of them had been quarreling a lot lately, _only since Anders arrived, _a small voice in his head whispered, and Lee found it was wearing him down.

Things had been going surprisingly well since Kara had returned from Caprica, battered and bruised, but alive. Considering the terms on which they'd parted, Lee considered it a frakking miracle that she was still willing to talk to him at all. They hadn't talked about _it, _but she seemed to have taken his admission that he loved her, had missed her, and was willing to listen if she needed to talk as a tacit apology for his earlier behaviour. And for that, Lee would be forever grateful. He'd rejoiced in having his best friend back.

Until Anders had been rescued.

Their seemingly perfect twosome had become a triangle, and triangles were well ... pointy. Things had definitely been pointy since Anders had arrived on Galactica.

He stared at the man in front of him, searching till he found it. Kara's missing dogtag, hung around his neck under his sweatshirt. Every time he looked at the man his eyes insistently sought it. "Sure," he said wearily, walking over to sit on the bench along the back wall. He knew this day was coming - the tension between the three of them was so thick you could almost cut it with a knife. _Some_thing had to be done.

They sat in silence for a moment, as Anders gathered his thoughts. He'd been the one to seek Lee out, and had played the conversation over in his mind several times, but now that the time was here, he wasn't quite sure how to begin. Lee forestalled him.

"You want to talk about Kara." It was a matter-of-fact statement. He'd known exactly what was on Samuel Anders mind.

"Yeah," Anders admitted, taking a long, slow breath. "Are you two ... were you two .. . something.. before I came into the picture?"

"No," Lee answered simply.

"Bullshit." Anders shook his head. He didn't believe that for a second.

"You calling me a liar?" Lee's voice had dropped to a low growl.

"You can't tell me there isn't something there. I've seen the way you look at each other, flirt with each other, touch each other every opportunity you can," Anders said angrily.

"So what?" Lee challenged. "Just because we're close doesn't mean we're sleeping together."

"Then why won't you let her be with me?"

Lee could hear the raw passion in the other man's voice. He began to have a little sympathy for the man he'd otherwise despised. He too knew what it was like to care for Kara so desperately and yet not be able to have her. Still, if this was what Anders thought, well, obviously he didn't know Kara very well.

A laugh ripped itself from Lee's mouth. "_Let _Kara? Gods man, don't you know yet that no one _lets_ Kara do anything? She's a woman who knows her own mind and does what she damn well pleases, regardless of what anyone else says."

Anders studied Lee during this outburst. "And you respect her because of it." It wasn't exactly a question, but Anders voice sounded uncertain.

"Damn straight I do." Lee looked him in the eye. "She's proud, courageous, strong ... stubborn as all get out ... she's a woman with fire and spirit."

"That's not all there is to her you know."

"You think I don't know that? I've known her for five years, not a couple of months. I know she hurts on the inside. She has her vulnerable points but she hates people to know that. If she's let you see any of that, then you're luckier than most."

"Have you seen that side of her often?" Anders wondered out loud.

Lee smiled ruefully. "I'm the _cause_ of it most of the time."

"Why's that?"

"I don't think I could explain it to you even if I had a year. Our relationship is complicated to say the least."

Anders hadn't missed how Lee's voice had changed as he spoke. It had gotten less challenging and more ... tender. "If you care so much about her, why don't you just..."

"I can't," Lee said flatly.

"Why? Are you with someone else? I haven't heard any gossip..."

"No I'm not. But I can't. Kara needs me as a friend. She needs the stability we have. I could never ask for more."

"Then why don't you let me be there for her?" Anders eyes blazed.

"I'm not stopping you." Lee said softly. "If I was you'd know it." He looked meaningfully at the other man. "You're not the only one who loves her you know. I may never be able to have her, but I'd never stand in the way of her happiness. That said, you need to understand that I'm not going to stand aside and let you take her away from me. Our friendship is something special, something precious to both of us and I won't let anything ruin that."

"Some friendship. It seems that all you ever do is fight. You seem to be two very stubborn people who never agree on anything." Anders voice was full of spite.

"Yeah, I know what it seems like. Our fights really aren't about all those little things though. Sure those are the superficial things we _seem _ to be fighting about, but underneath we're just pushing the boundaries to see how strong our friendship is. To see if it'll hold when times are tough." Anders face held a querying expression but he said nothing. "We've been through the fire and back together and it's still holding strong," Lee said proudly.

Anders shoulders slumped visibly. Internally he admitted defeat. This man had Kara - maybe not physically, but emotionally she belonged to him. "Okay I get it, you're all she needs."

"Don't underestimate yourself Anders. Kara doesn't trust easily, and if you and she got that close in such a short time, then she must trust you."

"Then why won't she talk to me about us? She's been all but ignoring me since I arrived."

"She's confused. You have to give her time to sort out what she's been through and what she wants. She's not shy, she'll let you know when she's ready."

"Guess I can go then, no point in waiting here on Galactica forever. It's not like I have anything to do here."

"I thought ... I heard you and Jacobs were going to train to become pilots. Frak, we can always use more - plenty of ships sitting empty."

"Kara's refused to teach me," he bit out angrily. "Won't have me in her class and won't tell me why."

Lee smiled sadly. "She's giving you her answer, you just don't know it." Anders brow furrowed. "She cares for you," Lee said. "She doesn't want to hurt you."

"How do you figure?"

Lee took a deep breath. "When Kara and I first met, it was because she was dating my brother."

"Oh." There was a vast ocean of meaning in that one small word. Anders was finally starting to get it.

"She was the flight instructor at the Academy and he was one of her students."

"Surely that isn't allowed is it?"

"Of course not. But you can't help who you fall in love with can you? If it were anyone else I might have reported it, but my own brother? Besides, I could see how much they loved each other." Lee's voice became wistful. "I think I fell in love with her then too. But she was my brother's girl so I had to be content just being her friend. Anyway, apparently Zack wasn't such a good student - flying just wasn't in his blood the way it is in me and my fathers, but he desperately wanted to be a pilot. So Kara passed him even though he wasn't good enough. She couldn't bear to hurt him by telling him the truth, so she let him get through."

"We all make mistakes."

"Hers cost Zack his life. A few weeks later he died because he couldn't handle a Viper and he crashed it."

"Oh gods, poor Kara. She must have felt terrible."

"She walks around with all that guilt and pain still, and always will. She hides it well most of the time, but sometimes, like now ..." Lee trailed off. "She's sending the message loud and clear that she won't let history repeat itself. She doesn't want to lose you, but she doesn't trust herself to make the right decisions."

There was silence for a minute as each man contemplated what Lee had just said.

"Wow, I see what you mean," Anders paused. "Complicated."

"Exactly." Lee turned to face him once again, and the other man saw the sorrow in his eyes. "Now are you beginning to understand? Why Kara and I are so close yet so far apart? Why we're bound together in ways I can't even begin to understand but have to accept?"

"I'm not sure complicated even begins to describe it," Anders answered honestly. Understanding and sympathy darkened his eyes. "I'm sorry I laid into you earlier. I had no idea there was so much going on between you two."

"How could you? Getting Kara to talk is like pulling teeth. I'm closer to her than anyone, and I have to fight like hell to get her to let me in at times. There are still things she won't even talk to me about - like you."

"Me? She hasn't told you ..."

"She's told me very little of what happened on Caprica, which tells me a lot did. It also tells me that it touched her deeply and hurt her. Her happiness she shares willingly with everyone around. But her sorrows she keeps close to her heart, never sharing with anyone unless forced to. All I know about you and her is what I've observed since you arrived."

"And what is that exactly?"

"That although you only knew each other a short while, you formed a strong bond. That she cares for you, although she's afraid to admit it. That you care for her but are frustrated by the fact that things aren't the same between you anymore."

"You don't miss much do you?"

"Nope. Especially not where it involves Kara. She's my best friend; I watch out for her and try to be there for her whenever I can. or whenever she lets me anyway. You just have to be patient. I'm not saying there'll be a 'happily ever after' ending - that's not likely with Kara, but wait. Give her time to decide what she wants. Things _are _different here - _she's_ different, and she needs to figure out if you can fit into her life here. It may be the answer's no, you have to be prepared for that. But the worst thing you can do is push her. If you do, she'll either push back or become elusive and slip away from you."

"She pushes you back, obviously."

"That's because what we have is familiar. She feels safe with me. Our relationship has been tried and tested and remained strong. She knows she can trust me. Yours is new - something scary and uncertain for her. You push and you're likely to lose her for good."

"So you're saying I should just sit around and wait for her to decide?"

"That's pretty much the gist of it, yeah." Lee smiled.

"Thanks for the good advice Captain." Anders smiled back.

"Lee. You're a civilian. You don't need to call me Captain."

"Sam." Anders offered his hand and Lee took it. "Thanks for the chat. I appreciate your openness and honesty."

"Anytime," Lee said, and meant it. he hated to admit it, but he was really beginning to like Anders. There was something about him that was just ... good. He was also beginning to understand how Kara had fallen for him. Didn't make him any happier knowing she'd likely end up with him and Lee would be stuck as 'the friend' yet again, but he loved Kara, and loving her meant allowing her to be happy, whatever her decision.

"One more thing," Lee said as Anders was nearly all the way across the room. He turned and looked back questioningly. "Make her happy, if that's what she wants. If you don't, I'll kick your ass so hard you'll never sit on it again." Anders grinned widely. Lee walked up to join him. "And if you really want to learn to fly, I'll teach you."

"You'd do that?"

"I'm the CAG, I make the rules around here."

"Yeah? Seems like Kara just keeps breaking them."

"Privilege of carrying the name Kara Thrace. You try it and I'll throw your ass in the brig."

"You wouldn't!" Anders laughed.

"Try me."

THE END


End file.
